Monday, 23 January 2017

THE UPSIDE OF THE DOWNSIDE

Lately I've been accused of
being too political, too “liberal," (which by
definition doesn’t seem like such a bad thing) or my other favourite, too dogmatic (not sure why my researched facts are dogma and another man's dogma is fact, but hey ho. Must be my pea sized liberal brain). On the contrary, I’ve always
prided myself on caring about my fellow human beings (unless they are serial
killers, pedophiles or racists and then my patience gets a real run for its money) and have always thought that as we all don’t have the same opportunities in this world, why not even
the playing field a bit more.

Obviously, my beliefs go much deeper than this, and if you have a few days, we can sit down and hash it out, but moreover, in today's times, being political should be something of which to be proud.

So in light of our current political climate, I’m not only
going to own it, but I have no plans of being anything but. My generation, and many
generations that have followed, have been accused of many things: not caring enough,
complacency, self-righteousness, not having been through a war (oh I beg to
differ, but we’ll leave foreign policy alone for the moment), and a general
preoccupation with ourselves. And perhaps like any cliché or generalization,
there is a bit of truth in that, but I think fundamentally people still care
very much. And lately - if the Women's March didn't spell this out in LARGE capital letters - there has been a huge awakening, a well-needed awakening
that has come not a moment too late. As my hero Gloria Steinem so aptly put it, 'this' movement, this action.. is the upside to the downside and it has made me incredibly proud to be a woman (citizen, American etc).

With the latest
administration kicking into high gear (I stand by my oath not to utter ‘his’
name (#notmypresident), it has dawned on many – myself included – that the days
of inaction are over. In fact, I almost look at it as our constitutional duty
to fight against much of what this man, and his administration stands for.
Cause from where I sit, there is not a lot of positivity in his message or
care for the citizens of this country (all of them, not just some) or the
planet that we are so privileged to live upon.

So, we are now faced with a
choice, do something, or sit back and let people speak for us and make
decisions that will decide our fate (and those of our fellow man/woman/dog/etc), that have no place to do so. For I say
this to anyone that asks me to respect this President: respect is earned, and
he has gone above and beyond to make sure I understand that women (immigrants, minorities, and so on) do not earn his respect. His running mate has outwardly declared war on the female reproductive
system and LGBT rights (whilst not only trouncing all over the separation of church and state,
but he goes as far as to overtly say that God will be governing as long as he’s
in office). His cabinet – or the Swamp Lives, as I like to call them – has shown
their overt dislike of the planet, marriage equality for all, LGBT&Q
rights, and a universal healthcare package that doesn’t undermine big business.
Of course I could go on for days, but I won’t bore you, as I’m sure most of you
do your homework and have your own reasons for disliking this current
administration.

But I won’t do is apologize.
I won’t curtail my posting (if you don’t like it, don’t look at it), I won’t
stop exercising my first amendment right, and I won’t accept a President that
is devoid of a moral code and has as much restraint as a giant man-baby.

What I
will do is fight. I will act. I will research. I will encourage, I will pick up the phone. I will not turn a
blind eye to bigotry, racism, sexism, or any other ism that crops up. And most importantly, I will not lie down until
this President understands that he does not and will not speak for all of us.

So, if this is political, I own it. I’ve certainly been called a lot worse.